Breakages
by alicejelly
Summary: It's five years later, yet things between Mikan and Natsume are still pretty much the same. Can a new student bring about a change that should have happened years ago? NxM. Don't be fooled by the title, it's not a depressing fanfic. All will be revealed.
1. Chapter 1 New Blood

**First fanfic, hooray. So, I need people to tell me where I'm going wrong (or right, hopefully!) **

**I don't own Gakuen Alice, obviously. Just Autumn Connell. **

Autumn Connell stood at the front of the class, her long red hair cascading down her back, her turquoise eyes surveying the room. The expression on her face was difficult to read, a sort of uneasy smile with a hint of defiance. She avoided eye contact with any one person for too long, her hands anxiously playing with a strand of her hair. She stood up straight.

"We have another new student," The teacher next to her spoke to the entire class, who were silent, but their stares said everything.

"Where's she from?" A boy in the front row piped up. He leaned back in his seat, his legs resting on the desk in front of him.

"Europe." The teacher replied, glancing again at Autumn, who seemed to be relaxing more as they spoke.

"England, to be exact." Autumn said, and a foreign accent could be heard clearly through her words. The teacher smiled.

"Her name is Autumn Connell. She's sixteen, like many of you in here. She hasn't spoken Japanese for very long, so be patient while she gets to grips with the language." He looked at the other students' faces. All eyes were on Autumn, the expressions mixed. "Any other questions for Autumn?"

"What's your Alice?" The inevitable. Autumn ignored it. The teacher, noticing this, coughed quietly.

"All will be…revealed…in due course." He said dismissively. He pointed out an empty seat in near the window in the second to last row, which Autumn made her way to and sat down. She smiled a greeting at the person next to her.

As the teacher started leafing through papers on his desk, Autumn felt a finger dig into her back. Turning round, she saw a smiling, brown-haired girl, who waved at her.

"Hi!" She said cheerfully. "I'm Sakura Mikan. Can I call you Autumn-chan?"

Autumn blinked, nodded, then smiled warmly. She cast a glance at the others in the row – next to Mikan, a black-haired, slightly bored-looking boy who was staring at the ceiling, and another boy, blonde-haired, clutching a white rabbit to his chest.

"I thought Autumn was a Season, not a name." The black-haired boy said, not shifting his gaze.

"A Season? I've never heard of it." Mikan looked slightly confused. "Is it English, Natsume?"

The black-haired boy, apparently Natsume, sighed. "Of course it is, idiot."

Autumn looked at him. "You speak English?" He ignored her. "It's Aki, Mikan." Autumn said, turning back to her. A look of comprehension dawned on the girl's face.

"Ohh! Can I call you Aki-chan, then?" Mikan grinned. Autumn gave a half-shrug, half-nod. Mikan clapped her hands together.

"So, what is your Alice?" Natsume asked, finally looking at her. Before she had time to answer, though, the teacher began speaking.

He explained that there was going to be a test today. A short one, just to see how they were getting on. He handed the sheets to a boy on the same row as Autumn, who used his Alice to levitate the sheets and hand them out to everyone without actually getting up out of his seat. Autumn smiled at this - but then looked down at the paper that had landed in front of her. It was a single sheet, written entirely in Japanese characters. The smile faded. Having only lived in Japan for two months, she still wasn't quite sure about reading Japanese. This was going to take a while. She picked up a pencil and tried to decipher the first question.

Half an hour later, somehow she had managed to finish. The teacher collected all the papers in, glancing at each one briefly as he picked it up. Autumn sighed in relief, and looking across, saw another blonde-haired boy looking at her.

"That was hard." He said, looking straight at her. He spoke in English. "Why is he speaking English?" He continued, and Autumn realised he was voicing her thoughts. She tried, in vain, to stop thinking, but the boy had diverted his attention towards Natsume instead.

"You thought that was difficult?" The black-haired boy almost sneered. Autumn decided, with those five words, that she didn't like him. "You must be even stupider than Polka-Dot." One glance toward Mikan's angered face told Autumn that 'Polka-Dot' was supposed to be Mikan.

"She's not stupid, Natsume, she just doesn't understand Japanese yet!" Mikan jumped to her defence. "You're the idiot!" Natsume grabbed a chunk of her hair and pulled it, bringing tears to her eyes.

"Call me an idiot again, Polka-Dot, and I'll burn your hair. Again." He said quietly, but loud enough for Autumn to hear. She turned around properly.

"Let go of her, idiot," Autumn said, emphasising the last word. "Or I'll break your fingers." The entire class was silent, staring at them with baited breath.

"I'd like to see you try." Natsume growled, tightening his grip on Mikan's hair. Mikan whimpered.

Autumn gave a slightly evil smile. The next moment, Natsume released his hold on Mikan and clutched his hand. Staring at it in disbelief, he saw three words etch themselves on his skin.

'Don't test me.'

Blood trickled from the wound.

For once, Natsume was speechless. Autumn smiled triumphantly and turned to face the front. Natsume left speechless within one hour of her arrival? That _had_ to be a new record.


	2. Chapter 2

**First fanfic, hooray. So, I need people to tell me where I'm going wrong (or right, hopefully!)**

**I don't own Gakuen Alice, obviously. Just Autumn Connell.**

Last Chapter 

"Let go of her, idiot," Autumn said, emphasising the last word. "Or I'll break your fingers." The entire class was silent, staring at them with baited breath.

"I'd like to see you try." Natsume growled, tightening his grip on Mikan's hair. Mikan whimpered.

Autumn gave a slightly evil smile. The next moment, Natsume released his hold on Mikan and clutched his hand. Staring at it in disbelief, he saw three words etch themselves on his skin.

'Don't test me.'

Blood trickled from the wound.

For once, Natsume was speechless. Autumn smiled triumphantly and turned to face the front. Natsume left speechless within one hour of her arrival? That _had_ to be a new record.

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A few years ago, the class would have been in uproar over anyone going against their precious Hyuuga Natsume - as it was, they had grown up since then, and were silenced by this strange newcomer who dared threaten the most feared member of the class.  
No-one was quite sure what to make of the girl. After seeing what she'd done to Natsume's hand, they trod carefully around her for the first few days. Upon discovering that Autumn was normally shy and friendly, they (unlike Natsume) relaxed. Natsume stayed cold and ignored her mostly, which suited Autumn fine.

What exactly her Alice was, however, remained unknown until her second week, despite relentless questioning from her peers. The staff had been observing her and were ready to award her first star ranking.

Narumi, the flamboyant blonde-haired teacher who had followed the class throughout their lives at the academy, was in class for once. He smiled at Autumn as he attached three stars to her collar.

"As you're not fluent in Japanese yet," He explained happily. "And there's a side to your Alice that you haven't fully explored yet." He attached the last one and stood back to admire his handiwork. "We'll see how you go from here." Autumn smiled, holding her collar up so that she could see them. Her fierce intelligence would rival that of Natsume, if not for the language difficulties. With a natural flair for languages, she was picking Japanese up quickly. She spoke enough to have a conversation with her classmates, and seemed to be getting on well with many of them, though the teachers weren't quite sure whether they treated her so well just because they were scared of her.

"Sensei! What _is_ Aki-chan's Alice?" Mikan piped up from the back. The class fixed their eyes on their teacher, waiting impatiently for an answer.

Narumi looked surprised and turned to Autumn, who shrugged nonchantly.

"You didn't tell them?" He asked, genuinely mystified. Autumn shook her head, but didn't try to stop him as he explained it to the rest of the class. "The Alice of Breaking. And fixing, but she's not as good at that yet."

The class sighed in comprehension. That explained a lot.

* * *

The day after that, Natsume wasn't in class. He often skipped lessons, so his absence in itself wasn't particularly odd - but Autumn knew something was different the moment she walked into the classroom. Ruka, Natsume's ever-present, blonde-haired companion, sat at the back alone, absent-mindedly stroking the rabbit clutched to his chest.

Autumn made her way to her seat and turned around to face Ruka. She hadn't spoken to him much since her arrival two weeks ago, but from observation knew he was friendlier than Natsume.

"Hi Ruka," She greeted him, smiling. "Where's...Natsume?" She was about to call him 'Toasty', but thought better of it.

Ruka was about to reply when Mikan burst in, a confusing mixture of emotions on her face. She looked happy, yet somehow disappointed, and confused as to why she was disappointed. She sat down in her seat, noticing the empty space between her and Ruka.

"I didn't bump into Natsume this morning," She smiled. "Where is he?"

"He's..." Ruka hesitated, looking meaningfully at Mikan. "Busy."

Although Autumn didn't understand what he meant by this, Mikan's face fell. She looked out of the window as if he would appear any moment. She muttered something to herself, her tone clearly a mixture of anger and sadness though the words couldn't be heard. Autumn thought it best not to pursue it, as it was obviously upsetting Mikan. She noticed Ruka's hand stretching out and clutching Mikan's as it lay on the desk. Mikan looked back at Ruka and smiled weakly.

"He'll come back." He said quietly.

Autumn felt as it she was intruding, even though she could sense there was nothing more in the gesture than a desire to comfort each other. She too looked out across the grounds. Narumi came in to teach for once, yet Autumn didn't notice. Something had caught her eye. She could clearly see someone's arm hanging loosely by their side behind a tree outside. The rest of the body was hidden, but from the position of the arm, Autumn could see that they were slumped against the tree.  
She sat up sharply as the body moved. The figure slid slowly to the side until Autumn could see a black-haired boy unconscious on the grass. Natsume.

She cried out and stood up. She didn't particularly like the boy, but there was no deep-seated feeling of hatred between them, and she didn't wish harm on him. Unless he was threatening her friend.  
Everyone's heads turned towards her. They followed her gaze out of the window. Screams ensued as Natsume's numerous fangirls saw his unconscious form. Narumi rushed to the window, not even trying to regain control of his class. Swearing under his breath, he ran out of the room. Ruka had gone pale and Mikan was pressing her face to the glass, shouting Natsume's name over and over as if that would wake him up.

"Stand back!" Autumn repressed the initial feeling of shock and shouted instructions to the group. She repeated herself, louder, and the class tentatively moved away from the windows. Some of the girls whimpered. Taking a deep breath, and shielding her face, Autumn used her Alice to smash one of the windows, then jumped through it, landing softly on the ground below. She beckoned to Ruka and Mikan, who hesitated, then followed suit. Autumn fixed the glass before anyone else could jump through. That was the last thing Natsume needed now.

The three sprinted over to where Natsume lay. They propped him up against the tree again, calling his name to try and wake him.

"How did he..." Ruka began, then stopped, looking at Autumn.

"How did he what?" Autumn stared at him. "You know what happened, Ruka. So do you." She glanced at Mikan. "Tell me."

Mikan burst into tears, shaking Natsume. His head lolled around his shoulders, threatening to crash against the tree trunk behind him.

"They...Natsume-kun...they make him do...other things. Not school work." Ruka explained quietly. "There's a man. Persona. He forces Natsume to...do things he normally wouldn't." His voice quavered as he tried to find the right words to explain it, and the courage to say them. "He calls them 'missions'. Natsume has to use his Alice...sometimes to hurt people."

Autumn nodded, her gaze softening as Ruka spoke.

"Natsume has the type of Alice that shortens his life every time it's used." He looked back at his unconscious best friend. "He was supposed to be in hospital today."

"We need to get him back there, then." Autumn decided, standing up and looking around to see if she could see the hospital. As her gaze swept over the woods, she noticed a man standing in the gloom. His face was hidden by a mask, except for his mouth, which curled upwards in a small smirk. He was dressed entirely in black. He moved forwards slightly as Autumn saw him. Ruka turned and saw him too. His face contorted with rage.

"Leave him alone," He snarled at the man. "Persona." He added venomously.

"He has no more use for today." Persona said calmly. "I simply wish for him to have these." He held his hand out. In his palm lay two pills. "He'll recover if he takes them."

Ruka pushed the hand away.  
"He needs to go to the hospital."

Persona sighed. "He'll be conscious faster if he has these."

"That's not the same as recovering," Autumn said defensively, blocking his view of Natsume.

"You're new," Persona said, ignoring her comment. Autumn returned the gesture.

"Leave him alone." She said, staring him straight in the eyes. Mikan clasped her hand around Natsume's arm and nervously watched the scene unfold. Ruka stood up beside Autumn.

"We're taking him to the hospital, Persona. He doesn't need your poison." He spat the last word, looking at the pills in Persona's still outstretched palm.

"Take them." Persona stayed calm. Autumn, growing increasingly frustrated, waved her hand over the palm. The pills disintegrated into a pile of useless dust.

Far from being irritated by this, Persona smiled. "Why haven't you been sent to me?" He asked, brushing the dust from his hands and looking Autumn up and down. "Your Alice is powerful. Useful." He mused. "You'll be seeing me a lot more often then I'm sure you'd like from now on, Connell-san." His smile was twisted with evil and triumph. With that last remark, he disappeared into the trees.


	3. Chapter 3

**First fanfic, hooray. So, I need people to tell me where I'm going wrong (or right, hopefully!)**

**I don't own Gakuen Alice, obviously. Just Autumn Connell.**

**Thank you **_**petalsarefallingxoxo**_** for reviewing )**

Last Chapter 

"We're taking him to the hospital, Persona. He doesn't need your poison." He spat the last word, looking at the pills in Persona's still outstretched palm.

"Take them." Persona stayed calm. Autumn, growing increasingly frustrated, waved her hand over the palm. The pills disintegrated into a pile of useless dust.

Far from being irritated by this, Persona smiled. "Why haven't you been sent to me?" He asked, brushing the dust from his hands and looking Autumn up and down. "Your Alice is powerful. Useful." He mused. "You'll be seeing me a lot more often then I'm sure you'd like from now on, Connell-san." His smile was twisted with evil and triumph. With that last remark, he disappeared into the trees.

Footsteps sounded on the grass behind them. Cautiously, Autumn dragged her gaze from the darkness into which Persona had just disappeared, and saw Narumi and Jinno running towards them.

Narumi scooped up Natsume while Jinno looked on, regarding Autumn with the same look Persona had just given her. Autumn frowned and looked at Natsume in the teacher's arms. 

"I'll take him back to the hospital," Narumi broke the silence. He turned to Jinno, wincing slightly from the weight in his arms. "There's not much point in my class resuming lessons this morning. They've been distracted by this." He glanced at his class, who were all still pressed up against the window that Autumn had shattered minutes ago. Autumn raised a hand and they scattered away from the glass. She smiled.

Jinno considered for a moment. He too looked at the classroom - and saw faces peering through the windows of nearby classrooms. 

"Classes are cancelled for one hour." He said shortly, then walked back towards the school. Narumi started to walk off in the direction of the hospital. The three teenagers followed him until he stopped a few paces later. 

"Ruka and Mikan, go and tell the classes that they're dismissed for the hour." He looked back at them. Mikan opened her mouth to protest. "Go, Mikan-chan. And you, Ruka." He lowered his voice and smiled slightly. "You can come and visit Natsume once you're done." 

Grudgingly, the pair walked away. Autumn turned to followed them, but Narumi stopped her. 

"Come on," He said softly, and she stepped in beside him as he made his way towards the hospital, the unconscious Natsume still in his arms. Autumn was surprised - a sixteen-year-old boy, no matter how thin he was, was still heavy, especially when they were carried for a long time - and Narumi didn't exactly look the 'strongman' type. 

There was silence for a moment, Autumn watching Natsume's face for any signs of movement, Narumi looking ahead. 

"You've met Persona, then, Aki-chan." He looked down at her. "I can call you Aki, can't I?" 

She nodded dismissively as an answer to the second question. For the first, she glanced back up at his face. 

"Yes." Her eyes flickered to Natsume again for a second. "Who is he?" 

"I'm not sure. He's been here ever since I can remember." He sighed. "He picks out the students with the most powerful abilities and trains them as he wishes. Natsume here, unfortunately for him, has a very powerful, very desirable ability." He paused. "And so do you." 

Autumn was silent. 

"Though your power isn't as developed as Natsume's, now he's seen your power, I'm sure he'll try and train you, too." 

"What if I refuse?" 

Narumi laughed humourlessly. "You don't refuse. You can't refuse." 

Somehow, Autumn understood what he meant. 

"I thought I should warn you." 

They walked the rest of the way in silence.

Autumn woke in darkness, to a voice she didn't really want to hear. Sleepily, she stared around for the source of the offending noise. Her gaze fell upon the doorway, where a figure, clad entirely in black, was silhouetted.

"Get up," Persona said bluntly, then disappeared from view. Autumn put her head back on the pillow and heard a whisper in her ear. "I'm afraid you really don't have a choice, Aki." Persona's voice again. Knowing that she would never get back to sleep now, she scowled and slid out from under the duvet.

Shuffling sleepily across the room, she slapped the light switch and squinted as the room was illuminated. On her desk was a pile of clothes. Picking each item up individually, she found a black long-sleeved shirt, a pair of black tracksuit bottoms and a black jumper. Beside the pile was a pair of brand-new black trainers.

"That guy really likes black," Autumn muttered to herself in English as she slipped the clothes on.

Flicking the light switch again as she left, she locked the door behind her. Persona stood at the end of the corridor. He gave a satisfied smile as Autumn neared. Autumn scowled.

"What do you want, then?" She said. Persona said nothing. He beckoned for her to follow then walked away down the stairs. Sighing, Autumn followed, pulling the jumper closer around her. It was cold this early in the morning.

They walked in silence towards the forest. Once under the cover of the trees, Persona finally spoke.

"Natsume is still unconscious." He stopped and turned to face her. Autumn said nothing so he continued. "I said you'd see more of me, Autumn, and I meant it. As of now, you are obliged to complete tasks and missions for the school. I'm sure one of your little friends has told you what I mean."

"Like Natsume." Autumn growled. "Because you think my Alice is useful. You're going to use me to the point that my body can't take anymore?"

Persona laughed. "You won't end up like dear Natsume for a long time. Perhaps never." Autumn's expression remained unchanged. "You have no choice. I brought you out here to test your Alice, not to debate whether you participate or not." He glanced around, finally pointing at a tall tree behind Autumn. "Break it off." He commanded. Autumn did so - with ease. There was no way out. She knew that. If there was, Natsume wouldn't be unconscious in hospital right now. So she had no choice but to play along.

Persona continued testing her, making each task harder as time went on. Finally, at the first sign of light in the sky, he stopped the test.

"You need to practice focusing your Alice. At the moment you break things in random places." He looked at the dim glow in the sky. "You have two hours before classes start. You may want to get some sleep."

"I'm too awake now," Autumn sighed. Persona smiled again. There was something disturbing about Persona's smiles - something that made the target recoil instead of smile back.

He turned and walked into the darkness of the trees.

Autumn stood still for a moment, not sure what to do. Then she too turned and walked away - towards the hospital.

The hospital gates were, predictably, closed. Looking over them, Autumn could see that the corridors running between the rooms were lit, but some of the actual rooms were still in darkness as the occupants slept.

There was a single guard on the fence. He was slumped in a chair, his eyes closed. He obviously wasn't expecting much at dawn.

Autumn waved a hand in front of his face. He didn't move. Sighing, she pushed his arm with her hand. He awoke with a start and looked curiously at the redhead before him.

"What do you want?" He asked suspiciously, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"To visit a...friend." Autumn indicated the hospital. "Can I go in?"

"What's your name?"

"Autumn." She only gave her first name - putting her last name first still sounded strange to her. Her name was too...western.

The guard thought for a moment. "What friend?"

"Does it matter?" He considered again. Autumn sighed. "I could always break in, if you'd prefer that."

"Oh. THAT Autumn. What are you doing up at this time of the morning?"

Autumn didn't answer. The guard smiled sleepily.

"Right, go through then." He clicked his fingers and the gates slid open. Autumn thanked him and walked quickly through the gates.

The inside of the hospital was similarly deserted. A bored-looking nurse sat behind the front desk. She looked up as Autumn walked in and gave her the same puzzled look the guard had outside. Autumn smiled at her.

"How is Hyuuga Natsume?" She asked. "Can I see him?"

"No!" The woman looked slightly annoyed. "Why can't you fangirls just leave him alone? I had about ten of you asking about him yesterday. He's ill, for goodness' sake! He doesn't want girls crowding him day and night!"

"I'm not a fangirl!" Autumn said, almost indignantly.

"And I'm not a nurse," The nurse laughed.

"I'm the one who gave him those scars on his hand." Autumn said. She'd left the words etched on his hand - for now.

That just made the nurse laugh even more. Autumn sighed. She would have to prove it. Again. The laughter died as Autumn used her Alice to scratch a red circle on her hand. She looked up at Autumn and pointed down the corridor.

"Room 50."

Autumn smiled and healed the mark. She walked off down the corridor.

The last few rooms in the ward were bigger and cleaner - probably only used for the special star students, Autumn thought with disgust. Natsume was in a room right at the end. As she pushed open the door, she could see that he was hooked up to a machine that was monitoring him. His eyes were closed, but she knew he wasn't just asleep. Closing the door gently behind her, she pulled up a chair and sat beside his bed.

"What has he done to you, Natsume?" She said softly, knowing he couldn't hear her.

He didn't move. Autumn rested her arm on the bed beside his unconscious form. At first, she hadn't liked the boy, but now - now she was beginning to understand why he was like he was. "How evil must someone be before even you can't fight back?" She reached out and clutched his hand. It lay limp in her own. She didn't say anything as she remembered finding him under the tree the day before.

"You know, Natsume, you could be nicer to Mikan. Do you know how worried she was about you?" She stopped as Natsume's hand suddenly moved. He gripped her hand and his lips moved soundlessly. Autumn watched him cautiously.

"Mikan..." He muttered. His grip tightened. "Mikan!" He sat bolt upright, his eyes wide. Autumn gasped and his head snapped round to look at her. Autumn's look of surprise melted into a smile as she saw Natsume's expression. His eyes were still wide. They stared at each other for a moment, Natsume still in shock at seeing Autumn there, Autumn with a slightly evil smile on her lips as she realised the meaning of his cries.

Finally Autumn broke the silence.

"Can I have my hand back?"


End file.
